Fall River Wonders: How can we save St. Anne's Church?

Brian Fraga Herald News Staff Reporter @BfragaHN

Friday

Aug 3, 2018 at 11:30 AMAug 3, 2018 at 10:36 PM

As Herald News reader Patricia Otis noted in a recent email, rumors have been swirling about the fate of St. Anne’s Church. Otis wanted to know: “Is there to be a fundraiser to save the church? Do they need volunteers?”

FALL RIVER — Whether you’re looking at the city’s skyline while driving over the Braga Bridge or walking around Kennedy Park, the green Fabergé egg-shaped twin bell towers of St. Anne’s Church loom large over Fall River.

The 112-year-old landmark church on South Main Street is at a crossroads. Parishioners in the cash-strapped parish need to raise $13.5 million to renovate and repair the blue marble building, according to an architect’s assessment.

The beautiful upper church — lined with marble-carved saints with French inscriptions — has been closed since a large piece of plaster fell off the wall during a weekend Mass in May 2015. Rarely does a week go by without someone asking about St. Anne’s longterm future.

As Herald News reader Patricia Otis noted in a recent email, rumors have been swirling about the fate of St. Anne’s Church. Otis wanted to know: “Is there to be a fundraiser to save the church? Do they need volunteers?”

For this installment of “Fall River Wonders: You ask, Herald News answers,” I tried to find some answers for Otis and others who are wondering about what is going on with St. Anne’s Church.

Unfortunately for them, the answers at this time are not very satisfactory.

“There is not a whole lot to say right now. We’re working on some stuff, but as far as anything planned for regular folks, there’s not really anything at the moment,” said the Rev. David Deston, the administrator for St. Anne’s.

A parish planning committee is analyzing St. Anne’s long-term future and giving recommendations to Bishop Edgar da Cunha, who earlier this year began the latest phase of a diocesan restructuring process that he said will result in some struggling parishes being closed or merged with others. The bishop has already accepted a recommendation to close St. Bernadette Church in the Flint. The last Mass will be celebrated in that parish on Aug. 5.

Deston did not hint at what the parish committee is planning in terms of fundraisers. A member of that parish committee posted on Facebook a few months ago that he was collecting pledges, but the parishioner did not confirm if he was still doing so.

Deston said people can make donations by simply sending them to the parish office, though he emphasized, “I’m not soliciting anything.” Even with that said, Deston said the parish has not received any donations.

What’s sure is that there is no shortage of would-be volunteers. I stopped by the church after the 6:30 p.m. Sunday Mass — which is held in the basement shrine — and asked worshipers if they would be willing to volunteer their time, talent and treasure to save their Church. They overwhelmingly said yes.

"Of course, because I think this church is worth saving. This building is an icon," said Lisa Robitaille, a St. Anne's parishioner who added that she would be "devastated" if her parish is shuttered.

Vivianne Morrissette, a St. Anne's parishioner who sings in the choir, said she and her husband have already pledged to donate to saving the church, which she added will probably require regional or even national help.

"It's gonna take a miracle," she said.

I interviewed those parishioners in the famous basement shrine where miraculous healings have been reported. St. Anne’s is embedded into Fall River’s historical and cultural fabric. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Despite the beautiful Romanesque Revival architecture and its central place in Fall River’s history, St. Anne’s Church is like many other struggling urban parishes in the Northeast that over the past few decades have seen declines in Mass attendance and weekly contributions.

"Not a lot of people are coming to church," Morrissette said.

Email Brian Fraga at bfraga@heraldnews.com.

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